


the ingredient that binds us together

by suzukiblu



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Cooking, Cultural Differences, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant - The Legend of Korra, Not Compliant with Avatar Comics, Polyamory, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzukiblu/pseuds/suzukiblu
Summary: ". . . so you suck at organizing things, I'm gonna assume," Sokka says, raising his eyebrows at the mess. Zuko turns red."I'm working on it!" he says."Yeah, and you suck at it.""Do you want some help?" Suki says.". . . yes please," Zuko mutters.
Relationships: Background Mai/Zuko, Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Suki/Zuko (Avatar), implied Mai/Sokka/Suki/Zuko
Comments: 14
Kudos: 220
Collections: ATLA Polyamory Fics, ATLA Winter Solstice 2020





	the ingredient that binds us together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoseMagdalena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseMagdalena/gifts).



> Written for RoseMagdalena. Set post Boiling Rock, pre Southern Raiders. Not comics-compliant or LOK-compliant, because I know very little about either.

It's Sokka's turn to make dinner and Katara's already forbidden him from just roasting the first thing he can hunt down. Apparently everyone wants things like _seasoning_ and _side_ dishes and balanced nutrition. Tch. 

Sokka personally does not see the problem with just roasting the first thing he can hunt down, but admittedly Aang would still need something to eat, so _maybe_ Katara has a point. 

Maybe. 

"What's for dinner?" Suki asks curiously, coming up beside him and crouching down next to him. Sokka pokes at the smoldering firepit with his sword, resigned. 

"Your guess is as good as mine," he grumbles. "Katara said no roasting anything." 

"Really?" Suki says. "Nothing?" 

"Not unless I want a water whip to the face," Sokka says. 

"Hm," Suki says. "Stew, maybe?" 

"Aang doesn't eat meat," he tells her. 

". . . _why_?" 

"It's a monk thing." Sokka pokes at the embers again. "So nothing with meat cooked in it." 

"I guess you could make a vegetable stew?" Suki says doubtfully. Sokka makes a face. 

"Suki, you're great and I love you, but that sounds _so_ boring," he says. 

"Well, if you season it right . . ." 

"Your faith in my capacity to season vegetables right is flattering but misguided," Sokka informs her. Suki lets out a little laugh. 

"How about I help you?" she suggests, and Sokka immediately perks up. Girlfriend-time is always a good time. 

"You're the best, Suki," he says, dropping his sword to throw his arms around her. She laughs again and pats his forearm. 

"It's not totally altruistic," she says in amusement. "I'm eating this dinner too." 

"Very fair," Sokka says. "So, stew?" 

"And rice, maybe?" Suki suggests. "That'll be more filling. We've got rice, right?" 

"I have no idea," Sokka says frankly. "I haven't been here for a few days, what with the prison break and all. We _should_ , though?" 

"Well, let's go see," Suki says, getting to her feet and offering him a hand. He beams up at her and takes it, and they head off to check out the food supplies. They're not too far from the firepit, for obvious reasons, though it's a little bit of a walk. Sokka the opposite of minds taking a walk with his badass girlfriend. Spending time with Suki is always a win in his book. 

They head into the storeroom, and Suki makes a startled noise. Sokka manages to tear his eyes away from her face and is mildly surprised to find Zuko in the middle of the trashed storeroom, looking embarrassed. 

"What are you doing?" he asks automatically, tilting his head. 

"It was messy," Zuko says lamely. "I was trying to organize things." 

". . . so you suck at organizing things, I'm gonna assume," Sokka says, raising his eyebrows at the mess. Zuko turns red. 

"I'm working on it!" he says. 

"Yeah, and you suck at it." 

"Do you want some help?" Suki says. 

". . . yes please," Zuko mutters. 

"Uh boy," Sokka sighs, and they get to helping him. Dinner is definitely going to be late, but whatever, shit happens. Anyway, it's gonna take some searching to find the rice in all this. "Why are you even doing this?" 

"I thought it'd help," Zuko says, still looking embarrassed. 

"Might've been more helpful if you'd timed it better," Sokka says frankly. Zuko reddens again. 

"It was a nice thought," Suki offers. "Oh, Sokka, here, I found the rice." 

"You are a gift," Sokka says. She laughs. 

"Well, that's half of dinner down," she says. "Now we just need stew ingredients." 

"You're making dinner?" Zuko asks. 

"Yeah, it's my turn," Sokka says. 

"Do you, uh . . . want help?" Zuko asks awkwardly. Zuko actually does not get a turn making dinner, on account of the fact they all thought he might poison them at first and nobody's re-examined the schedule since then. 

"Sure," Sokka replies with a shrug. If Zuko wanted them dead, he's had enough chances by now. "We're making vegetable stew, I guess. And rice, obviously." 

"You guess?" Zuko says. 

"It was the best idea we could come up with," Suki says. "Katara said no roasting anything and Aang doesn't eat meat." 

"We've mostly only got potatochokes and onion-ginger," Zuko says. "And I think there's some carrot peppers?" 

"Onion-ginger probably won't be good for stew," Suki says with a grimace. "Not sure about the carrot peppers either." 

"We're kinda running low on supplies, I guess," Sokka says. "Well, what else could we make?" 

"I'm not sure," Suki says, frowning to herself. 

"Curry, maybe?" Zuko suggests after a moment. "We could make it without meat." 

"Do we have the ingredients for that?" Suki asks. 

"I think so," he says. "And it'd go with rice, so . . ." 

"Isn't curry that weird spicy soup?" Sokka asks suspiciously. 

"No," Zuko says, shaking his head. "I mean, it's spicy, usually, but it's not a soup." 

"So what is it?" Sokka asks, still suspicious. 

"It's kind of its own thing," Suki says. "It's good, though." 

"This is a Fire Nation thing, isn't it," Sokka says with a grimace. Fire Nation food is _weird_. 

"Some parts of the Earth Kingdom make it too," Suki says. "But I think it did come from the Fire Nation originally." 

"It did," Zuko says. 

"Gross," Sokka says, making a face. Zuko scowls at him. "Don't look at me like that, man, you guys put _weird_ shit in your food. Someone gave me an egg with _sugar_ in it!" 

"You mean tamagoyaki?" 

"I mean an egg with sugar in it!" 

"Oh, we could make an omelette curry!" Suki says, brightening at the thought. "I love omelette curry. Aang eats eggs, right?" 

"Yeah," Sokka says. "Do we actually have eggs, though?" 

"Hogchicken eggs," Zuko says. "That'd work, right?" 

"Yeah, that's perfect!" Suki says, beaming at him. Zuko blushes again and Sokka sighs internally. Curry sounds weird, and omelette curry sounds weirder, but if Suki likes it . . .

"What else do we need?" he asks. 

"Chili tomatoes, cumin turmeric, and garlic coriander," she says, ticking them off on her fingers. Well, that doesn't sound too bad, Sokka thinks. "And garam masala, if we have it. Do we have all that?" 

"Not the garam masala," Zuko says. "And I'm not sure about the chili tomatoes." 

"Well, we can do it without the garam masala," Suki says. "We definitely need the chili tomatoes though." 

"Guess we gotta get through the rest of this, then," Sokka says, eyeing the remaining mess. Zuko looks embarrassed again. 

They get through it without too much more trouble, at least, and Suki finds the chili tomatoes tucked away in the back and they're all still good, so that's taken care of. She and Zuko gather up all the necessary ingredients and make a little pile in the center of the room while Sokka's putting away the last of the flour. 

Well—comparatively little. They've got a lot of people to feed, after all. 

"There we go," Suki says in satisfaction, inspecting the pile. "I think that's everything." 

"And there's not going to be any sugar in the eggs?" Sokka double-checks suspiciously, just in case. 

"Just garlic coriander," Suki says. Alright, Sokka can live with garlic coriander. 

"Okay," he says, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get cooking, then!" 

They take all the ingredients out to the firepit and set them all up next to the cookpot and get the rice going. Suki and Zuko seem to know what they're doing, so Sokka just watches attentively and waits for something helpful to do. As long as it doesn't involve eggs and sugar, he's all for it. 

Suki starts grinding up the chili tomatoes into a paste, and Zuko peels the onion-ginger. Sokka builds up the fire. Building up the fire seems like the thing to do. 

"Sokka, can you beat the eggs?" Suki asks as Zuko gives her the onion-ginger to start grinding up too. 

"Sure, how many?" he asks. 

"Mmm . . . maybe just all of them," she says, frowning at the eggs assessingly. "There's not a lot. Just save a couple in case somebody needs one for something later?" 

"Okay," he says, gathering up the eggs. "You want me to cook 'em too?" 

"You just have to pour them in the pan and put a lid over them," Suki says. "Oh, and don't forget the oil or they'll stick." 

"Right," Sokka confirms. He sets aside a few eggs and drizzles oil into the pan, then starts cracking the rest of the eggs into a bowl to beat together. Suki starts grinding up the onion-ginger and Zuko chops up the garlic coriander. It's kind of nice. Well, no, it's definitely nice; cooking is maybe not Sokka's favorite thing but it's a lot better with company, especially when said company is his hot girlfriend and their (more literally) hot friend. 

He pours the beaten eggs into the pan with the garlic coriander and covers it with a lid, and Zuko heats up some more oil in the pot and throws in the cumin turmeric and the onion-ginger. The fire's being really well-behaved, Sokka notices; he's barely had to tend it at all. It's almost like—

Oh, right, he remembers as Zuko breathes more flame into the firepit. 

Duh, brain. 

"Okay, that's really convenient," he says. Zuko just shrugs and starts stirring the pot. 

"It's not too hard," he says. "Every firebender has to know how to regulate a fire." 

"Yeah, and it's really convenient," Sokka says. "Usually I gotta worry about the fire as much as the food." 

"Oh," Zuko says. "Um . . . sorry?" 

"He's complimenting you, Zuko," Suki says wryly. 

"Oh." Zuko turns red again. Apparently he blushes really easily. It's kind of cute, Sokka thinks. 

"So are you oblivious or are you just bad at being complimented?" he asks. 

"It . . . hasn't exactly come up a lot," Zuko mutters, just looking at the pot as he keeps stirring it. 

"What, not even from your uncle?" Sokka asks. 

"All I've been doing the past three years is ignoring his advice and chasing the Avatar," Zuko says. "So no, not really." 

"Ah," Sokka says. He also would not compliment that too often. Or . . . like, ever. 

"Well, you did a good job breaking us out," Suki says, adding the chili tomatoes to the pot. 

"I got thrown in a cell," Zuko snorts. 

"Still," Suki says, resting her chin in her hands. "It worked." 

"Thankfully," Sokka says, leaning over to kiss her. She kisses back, then smiles at him in that one way that warms him all the way through. Zuko pokes awkwardly at the contents of the pot. 

"We should add some water in a minute," he says. 

"On it," Sokka says, getting up to go get some. They used what they had already on the rice. Zuko keeps stirring with a little frown of concentration and Suki keeps smiling. Sokka finds them both _definitely_ cute, though he's gonna avoid mentioning that out loud just now because he doesn't really know how the Fire Nation is about this kind of thing and now is probably not the time to go testing those waters. Especially not right after the Mai thing. 

They can worry about it after they save the world, he figures. There's a lot of things they aren't gonna need to worry about until after they save the world, so might as well add one more to the pile. 

He gets a bucket of water and comes back with it, and finds Zuko and Suki leaning over the pot with critical expressions and talking to each other. 

"We might need more chili tomatoes," Zuko says. 

"I think that was all of them," Suki says. "It'll be fine. We'll add extra chili powder." 

"Okay," Zuko says. 

Sokka spares a moment to imagine them maybe visiting the South Pole or something, after the war. They could do this again. Well, they could also do this again tomorrow, but there's just a certain appeal to the idea of Suki and Zuko in borrowed blue and crouched over a simmering elk-caribou stew or something like that. Hell, Mai could come too. He doesn't really know her aside from as an opponent but she did save all their lives, so they're cool as far as he's concerned. 

"Got the water," he says, resisting the urge to mention the "cute" thing for the moment. Or, like . . . ever. 

"Just a couple cups should be okay," Suki says, leaning back from the pot. Sokka pours in some of the water carefully, Zuko adds some spices, and they all sit back and wait for it to finish cooking. 

"I think the rice is done," Sokka says. 

"Should be," Suki says, poking at the curry. "Is the omelette ready?" 

"Yeah, definitely," Sokka confirms as he peeks under the lid. 

"Can you cut it up a bit?" she asks. "Just into squares or something." 

"Got it," Sokka says, taking the lid off completely and grabbing the nearest convenient utensil. They've made a little bit of a mess cooking, but not too bad, really. He's definitely done worse. 

"Do you think we made enough?" Zuko asks as Sokka's cutting the omelette up. 

"I think so," Suki says. "There's a lot of it, at least." 

"Worst case scenario, we make some more rice," Sokka says with a shrug. "There's plenty of that to go around." 

"Yeah, that's true," Suki agrees. "I think we did okay." 

"We did great," Sokka says firmly, kissing her cheek. "Thanks for the help, babe, it smells really good. And you too, Zuko." 

"Um, sure," Zuko says as Suki kisses him back. 

"Yeah, thanks, Zuko. Curry was a good idea," Suki says with a smile, then kisses Zuko's cheek too. Once again and entirely unsurprisingly, he blushes. Sokka considers doing it too but doesn't want to blow the poor guy's mind _too_ hard. He already looks like a chili tomato. He just reaches over and squeezes his shoulder instead, then gets to his feet. 

"I'm gonna go ring the dinner bell," he tells the other two, and they both nod. 

"We'll get the bowls and everything out for everybody," Suki says. 

"Thanks, babe," Sokka says, flashing them both a quick grin. He pictures them both in borrowed blue one last time, then heads off to round up everybody else for dinner. 

It's a nice picture, so he holds onto it. The war isn't over yet, obviously, but still, maybe someday he'll get to see it for real. 

Yeah. He likes that idea. 

Sokka's not going to worry about it 'til after the war, but for right now, it's a good thing to hold onto.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr!](http://suzukiblu.tumblr.com/)


End file.
